Vitamin D to treat psoriasis

13th May 2011

A new study has highlighted how ultraviolet light therapy and vitamin D creams work for so many patients.

Researchers say the vitamin D-based treatments increase the binding of a peptide called cathelicidin to DNA, which, in turn, inhibits the inflammatory response that triggers psoriasis. They hope the finding may lead to better treatments for the skin condition that specifically targets cathelicidin. While the causes of psoriasis are not completely understood, it is believed that the scaly patches occur when the immune system identifies healthy cells as dangerous ones and goes into overdrive, activating protein complexes called inflammasomes.